Believe
by assassinactual
Summary: When she was just a girl, she expected the world. But it flew away from her reach, so she ran away in her sleep.


It was one of those rare days when I managed to make it through all of my classes without being slushied or verbally assaulted. Well, Santana had called me an annoying troll and told me to go back to Narnia, which was bewildering, but not particularly harsh when compared to her usual insults. Unfortunately, my luck ran out just as I was getting my music for glee club rehearsal.

A huge meaty hand slammed my locker shut, nearly taking both of my hands off. I turned to inform the owner of the hand that he had nearly caused me grievous injury and was met with a slushie to the face.

"Slushie looks good on you, loser," Karofsky said. I couldn't be certain if he was the one that threw the drink because my eyes were squeezed shut to prevent damage. I heard some laughter and another slushie was dumped over my head. "Later, freak."

When I was certain the had left, I wiped the ice out of my eyes and licked my lips.

"Cherry. Just fucking excellent." I opened my locker to get my bag out so I could clean myself up.

On my way to the bathroom, I met Quinn. She glared coldly at me, as usual. I stood up a little straighter, and was almost thankful for the slushie on my face. It at least hid the tears.

After I passed her, I thought I could feel someone watching me. I didn't look, though. I didn't want to see her glaring at me, or even worse, not looking at all.

* * *

><p>I woke up on my side, with a pair of arms wrapped around me and a warm body pressed against my back. One of the arms reached up to brush my damp hair off of my forehead.<p>

"Rach," she said softly. "You awake?"

"Yeah."

"What were you dreaming about?"

I wiggled a bit, and she loosened her arms. I rolled over so I could look at her. Even freshly woken up with her long blonde hair a mess, Quinn was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I rubbed at the concerned crease between her eyebrows.

"High school."

"Me?" she asked, dipping her head a bit. I nodded. "I was pretty stupid then."

"Not stupid. Just a little lost." I push myself up to kiss her on the cheek. "It's okay, it's in the past. You're mine now."

"Yeah, I am," she said, and nuzzled into my neck. Then she pulled away and looked at me with a huge grin. "Today's your big day."

I smiled so hard that my face actually hurt. I gasped when she started kissing her way down my neck.

"Quinn, not now! I can't be late on opening night!"

She nipped my collarbone lightly before pulling away.

"Rachel, you don't have to be at the theatre until five o'clock. Tonight." She looked at the alarm clock over my shoulder. "And it is currently a little before nine. In the morning. And we're already naked."

So we were. I hadn't noticed that. I sighed dramatically.

"Fine, If you must," I said with a smirk on my face. She laughed and attacked my neck once more.

* * *

><p>It was after twelve by the time we got out of the apartment. Quinn was taking me to my favourite vegan restaurant for lunch. She loved it too, even if she would never admit it to anyone.<p>

We seated ourselves at a table by the window. She pulled my chair out and waited for me to sit like she always did when she was the one taking me out. Once we were settled, she waived a waiter over.

"Your usual?" she asked.

"Yes, please."

While Quinn was ordering for us, I studied the logo on the menu the waiter was holding. It was supposed to be a vegetable of some sort. A pepper maybe? Who knew. The waiter had finished taking our orders and drifted away, so I turned my attention back to Quinn.

We talked about my play while we waited for our food. Well, I talked and Quinn listened. A few times I noticed her staring me with unfocused eyes. I had caught her like this before and she had assured me that she was interested in what I was saying, but sometimes I was just so adorable that she couldn't focus.

After our meal, we went for a walk in the park, then returned to our apartment so I could get ready. That was delayed by nearly an hour when Quinn joined me in the shower and complained that she hadn't had dessert.

When we finally got into a cab, I was still almost on time. I was already nervously tapping a rhythm on my thigh as Quinn gave directions to the driver. By the time we were a few blocks from the theatre I was so nervous I probably would have been bouncing around the taxi if I hadn't been wearing a seatbelt. Quinn grabbed my hand.

"Rachel. You are an amazing actress and the most talented singer I know. You've been rehearsing for months. It's going to be okay."

"But what if the power goes out? What if I lose my voice ten minutes in? What if a spotlight falls on my head and kills me?" What if? I only stopped listing scenarios because there were too many floating around my head.

She laughed. She actually laughed at me.

"You've been in dozens of plays, has any of that happened before?"

"Well there was that—" I was getting sidetracked. "This is Broadway, Quinn. Broadway! Do you not understand?"

The cab stopped. I looked out the window. We were in front of the theatre.

"Rach, look at me." I turned back to her. She took my free hand and held the both tightly. "This is your dream. You've been preparing for this since you were two years old. You can do this. I believe in you."

Just like that, the nerves were gone, replaced by a warm fuzzy feeling in my stomach.

"I can do this!" I opened the door and jumped out of the cab. I realized that she hadn't payed the driver, so I turned around and ducked my head back inside.

"I have to go get something," she said. I looked at her sceptically. "Don't worry, I'll be back in time for the show." I quickly kissed her, then ran into the theatre.

* * *

><p>It was fifteen minutes before the show started. Fifteen minutes before my Broadway debut. There was a knock on the dressing room door.<p>

"Come in."

A nervous looking intern entered, carrying a huge bouquet of roses.

"These were delivered for you, Miss Berry."

I took the flowers and thanked the girl, who quickly scurried out of the room. My name was typed on the card and there was a hand drawn star beside it. I flipped it over. There was a short message written on the back.

_I believe in you. – Q_

The warm fuzzy feeling, which had dissipated somewhat, returned even stronger than before.

* * *

><p>When the play finished and the lights came up, the entire audience was on their feet applauding. I looked at Quinn, who was in the front row, clapping as hard as anyone. She opened her mouth to shout something, but all I could hear was a strange buzzing sound. It drowned out everything else.<p>

"What the hell? What's going on?" Nobody noticed my distress. Then it felt like I had been kicked in the back and was falling into the audience.

* * *

><p>I jerked awake. It took me a moment to catch my breath and orient myself. I was in my room. In my bed. Most definitely alone. The buzzing was my alarm, informing me that it was 6 AM. I slapped it to stop the noise and sank back into my bed.<p>

I tried to hold on to the feeling of waking up in Quinn's arms. Waking up naked in Quinn's arms.

I must have laid there for ten minutes, because the alarm was buzzing again. I got up and shuffled over to my elliptical to begin preparing for another long day at school.

* * *

><p>The dream stuck with me all day. It had been so realistic. I made sure to avoid Quinn as much as I could. I didn't trust my self control.<p>

My luck was better that day. I still hadn't been slushied by the time I was opening my locker after the last class of the day. This time, there were no oversized football players roaming the halls with frozen drinks.

I passed Quinn at her locker on the way to the choir room. I waved at her, as I always did, not expecting a response.

She waved back. There was no way I had imagined that. She waved at me. It was more a slight twitch of the wrist than a wave, but she acknowledged my presence. She even made eye contact. I might have been going mad, but I was almost certain that her gaze had lingered a little longer than it should have, and wasn't as cold as usual.

I tried to push those thoughts out of my mind. Things like that had happened before, and I had always ended up disappointed. Still, I couldn't help the tiny hope that maybe she would notice me. Maybe she would see that I was more than just the loser with horrible style that cared too much about singing. Maybe she would believe in me. The hope kept me going, even if I knew it would inevitably be crushed.


End file.
